Frame 8: When you make the biggest mistake ever,something good comes from it.*. I found out later that dozens, I mean dozens of young people were slain in the Spirit, that is, struck down onto the floor, writhing and shaking, hootin and a hollering. *People sing: ("Come, You Faithful, Raise the Strain," stanza 3)"Alleluia!" Let us metanoia Let us think new thoughts about who Jesus was and why Jesus died. The week before Easter, known as Holy Week, is very special in the Christian tradition. Im convinced that it will not be difficult to see the glorious face of CHRIST in this: view on video. On first inspection Divinity appeared to the seekers to be like a luminous egg, well rounded, self contained, completely clothed in light and amenable to definition. 4810 Pt. If you have not donated yet, please do so today. World in Prayer, the Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist, Lodi, California. that in losing our life we might find true Life If a few well-placed bullets could reunite and restore that little Ukrainian family, maybe Jesus was wrong about non-violent resistance. My words are not up to the task of describing CHRIST weeping in this way. As we begin the Offertory, we prepare the gifts of this celebration. History should have taught us by now that that justice and not violence is the way to peace. 3:7 Little children, let no one deceive you. The injustice of it all explodes into our living rooms day after day. The big challenge of this period in the Church Calendar is that the focus is so very clearly on events that happened to "Someone else" so very long ago. To experience the liveliness of the resurrection is something quite different. One clear shot and Putin would be gone. Non-violent resistance is dangerous. If it doesnt is it my heart or is it the worship that is dead? Leader: Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord has prepared this table for all who love him and trust in him alone for their salvation. The flat earth was supported over the waters on pillars. And there was no official campsite back then. The first face of CHRIST belongs to a Ukrainian Father who is struggling to say good-bye to his young daughter. We dont have to travel to Europe or Afghanistan, or Syria, or Myanmar to catch a glimpse of the EMPIRE of DIVINITY, for the not yet REIGN of LOVE is already here. 2 0 obj
Required fields are marked *. COLLECT PRAYER. The Royalists placed their biggest cannon on the wall which surrounded the city of Colchester. All risings of the human spirit are preceded by brokenness, loss or rejection. In a world that so often denies or ignores the humanity-robbing effects of pain and suffering, Irrepressible (Personal Spiritual Practice Guide PDF), More Than Words Living What We Pray (PDF), Living in the Promised Land: A Lent Journey (Year B) (PDF). Let us pray for the intentions within our hearts: We know that when we raise our minds and hearts to the Presence among us, extraordinary things happen. Long ago, when torture broke the remnant of his will, Resist making the characters in these parables all about us. I confess, I was in denial. For Paul, like Jesus, lived as a Jew in Palestine under the oppression of Roman Empire, which insisted that peace could only be established and maintained through violence. So, let us begin with our own lives, our own daily challenges, let us strip ourselves of our own entanglements with violence. If we begin with what is actually happening in these parables, we will have to confess that these parables of the lost and the found are simply outrageous. It was as if my whole being was alive. And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn: Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, Our kinship warmed me as I imagined their delight at our Suns sensuous self-giving display as it set. Your resurrection we affirm with joy. Our count was based on the number of spouts that emanated from their blowholes. -Michael Morwood. Abundant life is the Shalom we long for, for without justice there can be no peace, and without peace there can only be abundance for some and not for all. /* We, too, experience new possibilities arising from our failures or disappointments or what has come to an end. Lectionary Commentary Elizabeth Myer April 27, 2021 Progressive Lectionary Commentary, Progressive Christian Resources for Advent, Lectionary Commentary, Progressive Liturgical Resources, Revised Common Lectionary Year B, Revised Common Lectionary Easter 5 Year B, Revised Common Lectionary Easter 5, Lectionary Commentary Easter 5 Year B . Alas, such a deep breath choked on the frigid air, as if my lungs rejected their own impulse to breathe, lest they themselves freeze as solidly as the lake beneath my feet. window.location.replace('https://progressivechristianity.org/paupress/?rel=contact&pau_form=contact_form'); Settle into your seat, close your eyes and imagine a place that brings you comfort and peace. Lutheran good order can and does ensure that such ecstatic behavior never happens in worship. What we refer to as the soul was a foreign concept to first century Jews. And now let us recite a creed, that is, an affirmation of faith, based on a contemporary view of Christianity: We believe in God, the power of life, love and being, We believe in Jesus, who revealed the good news. Welcome to the liturgy of The Namaste Church! Ice and water below me, the Sun shining before me, and behind me the Moon rising, all holding me in the embrace of a Cosmos the likes of which exceeds the farthest horizon of my ability to comprehend. What matters is that LOVE rises. With humility, with awareness of the existence of life. Think of ransom as a way out of captivity to Empire. When we forgo our obsession with Jesus death and open ourselves to the passions of Jesus life, we begin to see new ways to understand the new images of the HOLY ONE that Jesus encouraged his followers to see. Yet Easter is about a God who bursts tombs of the familiar, the ordinary and the mediocre. Glory be to you, Lord Jesus. Lectionary, study and worship resources from Faith Futures Jesus Then & Now. I expect solutions. To believe in the historicity of the resurrection is one thing. Im a scientific kind of guy and to tell you the truth You wouldnt know very much about the civil rights movement, about Dr. Kings dream, his vision of equality, his struggle for inclusion, his cries for justice for the poor, his vision economic equality, or his passion for peace, and his commitment to non-violent resistance. This gospel was written some 70 years after the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth. If there is a natural body, then there is also a spiritual body., Theres more, lots more, but lets just stop and catch ou breath. Christ the Lord is risen today Alleluia! The writings of the Apostle Paul contain the earliest writings that we have on the subject of the Resurrection. Hell, I dont want to see it. For the LOVE expressed in the life and death of Jesus lives in you and in me. I suspect that even offering all you have to a wastrel and a scoundrel is worth a shot if it means finding peace. This particular interpretation is a poor translation, but it was very popular way back in the day. God does this to all who believe in Christ, because there is no difference at all:everyone has sinned and is far away from Gods saving presence. Sometimes, when I manage to muster up my courage and try to view these parables of loss through lenses of resistance, I can begin to feel a kind of reckless abandon welling up in me, inspiring the kind of passion, which tempts me to take leave of my senses, to risk everything for the sake of what is currently being lost. Even though we may be worshiping in individual spaces, Through the Spirit, we are forever united. The irony of having Pauls rhetoric used as a bludgeon by those who insist on a physical resuscitation of Jesus corpse, well the irony is lost on most Bible thumping fundamentalists who have engaged me with their own brand of humourless rhetoric. The Third Sunday of Easter - April 18, 2021 Acts 3:12-19 Psalm 4 I John 3:1-7 Luke 24:36b-48 You can't manage or control a resurrection. Amen. Our Hebrew storyteller paints such a vivid picture of the Thin Place in which Elijah stands. We need a saviour to rescue us from our sinfulness. Social Justice Lectionary, Bruce Sweet, 2014. jQuery(document).on('change', '#submission-action', function(){ Continue reading . Out of the familiar emerges the extraordinary that transformsthe ordinary. Youll find it in the first Book of Kings. So it is with the resurrection of the dead. THEME The Connecting Solitude THOUGHTS FOR REFLECTION The spiritual desert is not a foe to be conquered but an emptiness to be affirmed: for when we are full, we perceive nothing, but when we are empty we can receive everything. Your support is needed to help ProgressiveChristianityorg. We proclaim and celebrate this Easter season because it links Jesus with all life, with transformation, and with possibility of life beyond our imagining. Nothing was said until dinner the next day, by which time Steve and Anna had been back to church twice. By stem and root and branch we trace, by feather, fang and fur, Repent: Metanoia: to think new thoughts. ), The pattern of death and resurrection is the pattern of all our creating and all our loving. The dualism of body and soul was a Greek idea, for the Jews there could be no resurrection without a resurrection of the body. This time also allows a moment for the congregation to "get settled" and ready to hear God's written word. Surely, the Americans have an agency for this. In Jesus they saw CHRIST. Living the Questions is happy to join other Michael Morwood fans in welcoming the arrival of Michael's newest book, Prayers for Progressive Christians. Jesus came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. This my body, given for you. Let us be resurrection by practicing resurrection, that is by resisting violence, resisting injustice, so that the Reign of LOVE ushers in the peace we long for the SHALOM which is abundant living. Let us be reckless in our LOVing, Grounded in our service, outrageously generous in our ransoming life on this planet. So the question about the kind of body the risen Jesus had was, as Paul puts it, quite simply, stupid. and we bless the earth and all that fills it. The writers of our creeds firmly established that God lived in heaven. Jesus, the archetypal human, in which DIVINITY is embodied, confirms that human life, does not die, but is resurrected, transformed. They were concerned for my mortal soul. It was as if my body was teaming up with my mind to convince my spirit to abandon this peculiar excursion. Lectionary sermon for 2 October 2022 on Luke 17: 5-10. //jQuery('#submit-action').attr('href','/paupress/?rel=contact&pau_form=contact_form'); No wonder Jesus took Peter, John, and James up there to pray. The PROMISED ONE has come not to be served, but to serveto give a ransom for the many. Sure, it is easy to scoff at billionaires squandering their ill-gotten gains on momentary flights of fancy. jQuery('#submit-action').click(); Easter (250) Easter 2 Year A (102) Easter 2 Year B (114) Easter 2 Year C (122) Easter 3 Year A (49) Easter 3 Year B (29) Easter 3 Year C (50) Easter 4 Year A (120) United States When I opened it, I found several passages of scripture written out in Annas immaculate style. When I can bring myself to read these parables through the lenses of resistance, I can begin to tell these stories as a call to resist. So, it should not surprise us that our ancestors in the faith, projected onto the DIVINITY the kind of personality which resonates in a culture where violence is seen as the answer to chaos. For years I reigned as the champion of our little world! I dont think that Jesus, or his followers, or Luke, told these parables in order to teach their listeners about the character of YAHWEH. It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give you our thanks and praise, O God! Frame 6: You are a special and unique image of God. It is in Jesus life, not his death that we will find salvation. What do you know about the life of Jesus that sheds some light on who and what the MYSTERY that we call God is? Anna knew that Jesus was sent by God as a sacrifice for human sin, to pay the price for our evil ways. Benedicite - a Song of Creation Benedicite - a Song of Creation (shorter version) Venite - a Song of Triumph Jubilate - a Song of Joy The Easter Anthems Evening Prayer. It was recorded Saturday morning, after a rocket exploded in an apartment block in Kiev. But like the indignant disciples of old, do we actually see the role we are playing in this race to escape the limitations of our one and only planet? Jesus lived and died giving his life to ransom us from ourselves, from our fears, so that free from the captivity in which our fear has confined us, we might walk freely away from our own self-centredness. Is the anonymous gospel-storyteller really saying that Jesus taught his followers to risk everything they have in order to find the one thing they have lost? A Liturgical and Devotional Guide for Lent When we face pain and suffering, we often feel like we become less than human. Let it go. Sure enough, the vase slipped off as smooth as silk. if ( '' != thisact ) { Anyone among you, those who aspires to greatness must serve the rest; whoever wants to rank first among you must serve the needs of all. There far away from their world, they were could safely worship Jesus. LORD'S PRAYER C: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. None of us believe that we live in a three-tiered universe. Or are we afraid that stripped of the security which our wealth affords us, our privileged positions will disappear, and we too shall find ourselves dependent upon the goodness of others? When you sow, you do not sow the full-blown plant but a kernel of wheat or some other grain. You simply asked the members of the First Nation for permission to pitch your tents on their land. Christianitys utterly loveless atonement theories about substitution and payment, arguing down through the centuries about whether this ransom is paid to God or to the devil insult the very memory of the rabbi himself, whose death saves us not from the wrath of God, but rather from ourselves. Amen. Our gospel-storyteller wrote his story within a deeply wounded community to provide the much need hope for their own resurrection. Is that right?, Crystal was a little breathless from all the crying she had been doing and all she could manage was a whimpered, Mmm hummm. Honey, tell grandma the truth now. But as it is, Christ has in fact been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep., Ah Paul, you sure know what youre doing! Risen Christ, The world despised and rejected you. Alas, if only. Thanks be to all that is HOLY! Ask congregation if they have any resurrections they would like to share. that we gather this morning and remember together that . :+FI_!+zh}&7
qdhe'{p [&xQJX/nf69. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Before the congregation hears the weekly scripture readings, the Prayer for Illumination turns our attention to God to ask that we hear God's word in order to better know God's will for our lives. She used warm soapy water to try to loosen the toddlers hand, which was stuck all right. your love came also to us in your servant Jesus. }); Join thousands of others like you who are contributing their voice to Progressive Christianity and list your church, organization or yourself in our global directory. */ and proclaim the Resurrected Christ who offers life to all. Suddenly, in the tears of that little Ukrainian family, I began to see the tears of generations of weepers. Pete said it this way, and I couldnt agree with him more: I deny the resurrection of CHRIST every time I do not serve at the feet of the oppressed, each day that I turn my back on the poor; I deny the resurrection of CHRIST when I close my ears to the cries of the downtrodden and the oppressed. You placed within us and within each plant and animal of your creation amazing abilities to form and nurture new life, so that your creation might be renewed, reborn, season by season, child by child. Alleluia! Resist looking for a saviour in these parables who will find us and put everything back together for us. var thisact = jQuery('#submission-action').val(); It does sadden me that succeeding generations have projected their own violent proclivities onto the DEITY and offered up various atonement theories which rely on the DEITY embracing our primitive reliance upon violence. LONG LIVE GOD! The small voice within my very soul said only one word Swim.. Death is vanquished. Even though Jesus knew he would be betrayed and deserted by those at this supper, he still continued to join them at the table, sharing time and space with whom he grew closest. Let us be LOVE in our lives here and now so that peace can break out again, and again, and again. But he still had me. The Apostle Paul wrote: We who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. When followers of Jesus in the first century and in the twenty-first century talk about the resurrection of Christ, we are proclaiming that death did not have the last word in the Jesus story because his followers were raised up to be his body right here, right now. When we do see ourselves in the story we are usually the lost the lost sheep or the lost coin and we take comfort in the reality that no matter how lost we may become GOD the supernatural being, out there, or up there, will find us. Weve heard these interpretations of Jesus life, death, and resurrection so many times that they have almost become indistinguishable from the idol that we have created to stand in for the Mystery that we call God. Our very freedom from ancient ways of knowing and being sets of a chain-reaction of freedom which can, if we let it, become Good News for the poor, as we finally begin to understand what Jesus knew all along, when Jesus insisted, I and the ABBA are ONE. For if Jesus and the ABBA are ONE, the Good News is that you and I and our neighbours, we are ONE with ABBA. We are gradually adding liturgies and liturgy ideas to our site. Yesterday, when the sun was in the same position in the sky as it is now, we insisted that it was an hour later. But Jesus did not let them linger for very long. MEDITATION Music: In the Garden Eddie Watkins. You provided wise men and women as judges for your people to show them the path to Life. It can all tend to become a nice "show" or a good academic exercise, but with little impact on us as we seek to follow this Jesus. Thank you, God, for life in the Spirit of Jesus. Amen. We know that humans were not created as perfectly formed creatures who fell into sin. They may not want to hurl me off a cliff, although some have wished me dead, or at the very least judged and punished by their god of eternal torment. What can progressive Christians say about the story of Easter? SALTs Lectionary Commentary for Lent 3, Cross Purposes: SALTs Lectionary Commentary for Lent 2, Change Your Life: SALTS Lectionary Commentary for Lent 1, What Freedom Is For: SALTs Lectionary Commentary for Epiphany Week 5, Revised Common Lectionary Commentary Mark 1, Revised Common Lectionary Commentary Mark 1:29-39, Revised Common Lectionary Commentary Isaiah 40:21-31, What Is Salvation? When the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, he unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: The Spirit of our God is upon me: because the Most High has anointed me to bring Good News to those who are poor. What could have changed these bumbling, terrified, betrayers, abandoners, who seemed to be always getting things wrong, into a bunch of leaders who began a movement that spread throughout the Empire within their own life-times and then based on the power of their witness, spread throughout the world and continues to nourish and sustain millions of people from generation to generation? Boys and their toys the put downs come, pardon the pun, a little too easily. var thisact = jQuery('#submission-action').val(); For far too long, my conditioning caused me to see this story as the story about casting away doubts and believing in Jesus physical resurrection. Christ is risen! Out or on the Fringe of the Church. Invitation Pauls understanding of resurrection was good enough for those early followers of Jesus way. *The ThanksgivingLeader: Lift up your hearts. Once again, I struggled to keep a straight face. The truth has left its fingerprints on every living thing. There werent many of us who made the effort. What seemed lifeless now abounds with life, new possibilities and delights. Mark 10:35-45, Sermon: BAT KOL, the Daughter of a Sound Welling Up Within, Lent: Letting Go of our Tightly Held Piety to See Our Need of Confession, Wrestling With the Almighty: Locating Our Very Selves in the Sacred Story a sermon on Genesis 32:3-31, What Can We Learn from Jesus? This despite the fact that the biblical author of the book of Joshua wrote that God stopped the rotation of the sun around the earth in order to provide Joshua with an extended period of daylight in which to kill his enemies. Risen as he said! with the Source and Sustainer of all that exists. Well, we never did manage to escape. We offer ourselves as your people in your service. } else { For after the fire came a BAT KOL. Among the passages was the text which is assigned for this very Sunday from Pauls letter to the church in Corinth. There are flowers in the sanctuary during Lent! Because if the dead are not raised, then Christ is not raised, and if Christ is not raised, your faith is worthless. Life is somehow stronger than death. xMk@9JPvvg? Gardens often provide a space for worship in a neutral setting outside the church for people to gather and share a faith experience. The followers of Jesus began to understand themselves in a whole new way. The Liturgy of the Hours includes several specified times of prayer. Whilst many were written for specific purposes or occasions, many are adaptable to suit others. Evoking the presence of the Great Compassion, let us fill our hearts with our own compassion. THEME The Rapturous Awakening The Irrepressible God The Ever-present Mystery, From Good Fridays gruesome darkness. Exposed to the vastness of the Cosmos, it was the ancient story of a Three-tiered Universe that inspired not murderous intentions in me, but rather the euphoria of freedom from captivity to the limitations of our ancestors imaginations. But I can, even now hear these stories told to inspire resistance to the violence and injustice of empire, for the sake of justice and peace. The agency connects leaders with needed resourcing, training, consulting, and networking that support spiritual You all know this story. Amen. Pray deeply, reverently, and then fast-forward to the music. He suffered and died because of his refusal to participate in the death-dealing violence of the world. Pain and suffering perpetrated by our species vain conviction that violence is the way to peace. give you joy as you share the Easter faith. Creator of Our Earth: We celebrate the shifting of seasons from one to the next. Such a strange dualism to entertain on the surface of a frozen lake, beneath a clear blue sky, staring out at a horizon, I have all too often entertained. Disappointed I resigned myself to abandoning our plans to camp on the hillsides which envelope the port of Narvik. Fosdick Dr. NW #80 But there are times. I knew I was about to drown. Prayer of Thanksgiving This page features the work of the Liturgy Commission of the Anglican Church of Australia. If there is no resurrection of the dead then not even CHRIST has been raised. The following liturgy was submitted by Rev. Then he said to them, Today, in your hearing, this scripture passage is fulfilled., Words 2004 Hope Publishing Company; LiscenSing 1975, When It Comes to Resurrection, We Look For What We Have Been Conditioned to See! It is a scary proposition for a pastor to venture out on a journey without the familiar trappings of familiar liturgy. Make them the food and drink of everlasting life, [After the Lords Prayer, the ministers and other worship leaders break the bread and place the pieces in baskets or on plates for distribution. One: On this day, we embrace the grace which reaches from the tomb. Support our mission with a tax-deductible donation! Now, talk of the mid-night sun always took me back to my childhood memories of my Dad reciting the Robert Service poem, the Cremation of Sam McGee. Embrace the HOLY foolishness which lives, in, with, through, and beyond you. The word literally translates as EL the generic term for a god, put together with the feminine form of the word for majesty so clearly LORD is not a correct translation for ELOHIM the God who is described as more than one QUEEN?) The moss, the kelp, the zebrafish, the very mice and flies, Many Christians understand the sacrament of Holy Communion as a means of grace that nourishes and strengthens our faith for life and ministry in the world. Im not so sure however, that Jesus response to his disciples indignation is all comforting. My brother didnt stand a chance. This, dear ones, is Good News indeed! <>/XObject<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/MediaBox[ 0 0 594.96 842.04] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>>
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Recklessly abandoning the status quo, is never sweet, never harmless. May we ourselves cease to be the cause of suffering to each other. jQuery(document).on('change', '#submission-action', function(){ Now, the dingy wasnt totally inflated on account of the leak that it had sprung the day before. Resurrection is a statement of how reality works. My friend and I were doing our level best not to laugh, we were too young to be sensitive, and to this day I find it difficult to keep a straight face in the presence of that particular kind of spirited movement. All rights reserved. Continue reading . who was compassionate and stood up for justice. May your love be shared amongst us as we enjoy the gift of fellowship. (LogOut/ I expect people to act. Through his resurrection Life you gave birth to your church, *Leader: Now the God of peace, who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, our risen Lord! I dont know how to stop this loop from playing. Morning . Concessions will be made, and war averted.